No. 20 Lady T's Stay on Top of DAC-10
By Dan Holsworth
Madison Daily Leader

Jeff Dittman's Dakota State University Lady Trojans took a pair of long strides Friday and Saturday in keeping atop the DAC-10 Women's Basketball Conference standings on their home DSU Fieldhouse floor.      With wins over Dickinson State University 70-60 Friday and Minot State University 86-63 Saturday, DSU's Lady T's are now at 10-3 in the conference and 17-6 overall.      The Lady T's take their current #20 ranking in the NAIA national polls to North Dakota this weekend, playing Valley City Friday and Mayville Saturday.      DSU finishes up its regular season at home, facing S.D. Tech Feb. 9, Blake Hills State Feb. 10, and Huron University Feb. 17.

Heidi Honermann (10) gets two of her 13 game points against Dickinson State Friday on this lay-up. Teammate Amy Balk (22) trails the play.

 Lady T's 70, Dickinson 60

     On Friday, DSU didn't take its first lead of the ballgame, 19-18, until six minutes were left in the first half.  The Lady T's then out-tallied Dickinson 12-8 to tuck in a slim 31-26 halftime lead.

     Dickinson played the Lady T's close in the second half before giving way to the Kathy Shypulski-led Lady T's in the game's final moments.  Shypulski sparked DSU's offense, garnering 18 points, which included a 4-of-6 showing from beyond the three-point arc.

     Heidi Honermann, Jessica Honermann, Hali McClelland and Jennie Sonne also had double-figure scoring displays with their respective 13-, 12-, 11- and 10-point outings as the Lady T's wound up shooting 22-54 from the field and 22-28 at the free throw line.

     "We had five people in double-figures scoring and that is a big step forward for our offense," said Dittman. "Recently, we've only had one or two people and this makes us more predictable on offense. With five people hitting them, it stretches the defense. Consequently, we will get easier shots for everyone."

     DSU had a slim 39-37 rebound edge over the Blue Hawks as Sonne grabbed 11 rebounds, completing her double-double performance. Skypulksi also claimed eight caroms for the winning Lady T's.

Dickinson shot 25-66 from the field but was just 6-14 at the charity stripe.  Darcy Schmeling had 16 team-top tallies for the Blue Hawks, who also got 12 apiece from Nicci Schorsch and Ginny Peterson. Peterson also had a squad-tops eight rebounds while Schorsch and Schmeling each had five nabs.

Lady T's 86, Minot 63

     Shypulski and her teammates had an easier go of it Saturday, putting up 51 first-half points and commanding a 15-point, 51-36, halftime lead.  Shypulski kept launching the 3's Saturday, going 4-9 beyond the red line and tossing in 26 points. The Lady T's also got 23 points from Sonne, 14 by Heidi Honermann and 10 from McClelland.

     "Kathy, Heidi and Erin Nielson did a great job of penetrating," added Dittman. "Our inside people -- Jennie, Jessica and Hali -- did an excellent job of dominating in the paint and our running game was as good as it's been all season."

     All that helped DSU to a robust 31-63 field goal and 18-21 free throw night shooting.  DSU also dominated Minot's Lady Beavers 47-27 off the boards with Sonne again coming through with an 11-rebound outing, while Nielson had seven, Jessica Honermann six and McClelland five.

     Minot's Kayla Blom led all scorers with 27 points, but Nichole Hayden was the Lady Beavers' only other double-figures scorer, coming away with 17 tallies.  Blom and Haydon also had respective seven- and six-rebound games.